1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an apparatus and method for cooling specimens and substances within refrigeration systems. In particular, this apparatus and method favorably decrease the temperature of a specimen or substance quicker than the refrigeration system can alone.
2. Description of the Related Art
U.S. Pat. No. 4,030,314 discloses a method and apparatus for preserving biological materials that provide a coolant to a cooling chamber within which air is continuously circulated. This system uses its own coolant in a freezing chamber, and is not itself for use within a separate refrigerant system.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,485,641 discloses a device for freezing biological products that uses a liquid gas such as liquid nitrogen within a container in which a biological specimen is supported. This patent specifies the use of a motor, external to the container, that drives an impeller, within the container, by means of a communicating shaft. The impeller circulates vapors from the liquid gas coolant throughout the cooling system.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,111,664 discloses a portable refrigerating/heating apparatus in which the cooling means is a Peltier heat exchanging unit integral with the apparatus itself. Because the apparatus produces its own cold air, it is self-contained and not dependent on the cold air of a separate refrigeration system such as a freezer, refrigerator or cooler.
In the art of cooling biological samples, several laboratory devices are available for bench top use. For example, several products have metallic blocks, which receive and hold test tubes and other laboratory containers, sometimes in association with a freezing gel, that are precooled and then used on the laboratory bench to keep reagents, enzymes, and other materials cold, yet conveniently available.